"Our disciplined execution against these priorities led to steady top-line recovery and net margin improvement as the year progressed, putting us in a considerably stronger position as we head into 2018."

Image:Twitter has 330 million monthly active users

Shares soared by 26% in pre-market trading in the US on Thursday, beating Wall Street's cautious expectations. nearing close of Thursday trading, they were up 14%.

However, Twitter is still facing problems such as the use of its platform for abuse, fake accounts and Russian bots.

On its own Twitter account, the company said: "We are committed to making Twitter safer, and we are clarifying our policies, improving our enforcement and communicating more clearly."

One of its other main problems is that user numbers are largely stagnant.

Twitter reported 330 million monthly active users for the quarter, a 4% increase from a year earlier but flat compared to the third quarter.

Even the attention brought to the micro-blogging site by US President Donald Trump regularly broadcasting his thoughts has not been enough to stem the exodus of US users.

That number was 68 million in the fourth quarter, down from 69 million the previous quarter.

In a letter to shareholders, Twitter said future revenue priorities include improving core ad offerings through better performance and measurement, including ad platform improvements, self-serve measurement studies and third-party accreditation.